322 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



at the head of the loch are the chief spawning places, and are limited 

 enough for the size of the district. 



THE SHIEL (LOCH SHIEL) DISTRICT. 



ANGLING SEASON : llth February to 30th October. 

 NETTING SEASON : llth February to 26th October. 



No District Fishery Board. The river Shiel is fished by Lord Howard of Glossop, who 

 owns the north bank, and by C. P. Rudd, Esq., of Ardnamurchan, who owns the south 

 bank. Loch Shiel is open to the public. 



This, like the Morar, is a large district with a short river. In 

 each case a large loch, not of first-class importance for salmon 

 fishing, but of great grandeur, occupies the bulk of the area. Loch 

 Moidart, the sea loch into which the Shiel and Moidart rivers flow, 

 forms the estuary for both rivers. The line is drawn from 

 Farquhar Point on the south shore to the south-west point of 

 Eilean Shona, and from the north-west point of Eilean Shona to the 

 nearest point of mainland on the north. Bag nets used to be fished 

 on the outer coast of Eilean Shona, but the two proprietors already 

 mentioned have arranged that they be taken off, and now no netting 

 of any kind exists near the mouth of the rivers. 



Eeference to Eilean Shona reminds me of an excellent example 

 I witnessed, when running up Loch Moidart in a steam-launch, of 

 how land animals may find their way to islands. The channel at 

 the point in question is nearly a mile broad, if shallow. In mid 

 channel we sailed right on to a weasel swimming hard for Eilean 

 Shona. He screamed with terror when run down, but speedily 

 reappeared under the stern we had stopped the engine and struck 

 out again with surprising agility for his destination. We saw him 

 land successfully on a tidal rock of some size close to the island. 

 I wondered how Mr. Spencer Thomson's Canadian turkeys would 

 receive him. 



Loch Shiel is 17 J miles in length, not 23 as commonly stated, 

 and is, I believe, for its length the narrowest loch in Scotland. The 

 mean breadth is less than half a mile, and the maximum only nine- 

 tenths of a mile. From Glenfinnan, at its head, it rims ll miles in 

 a south-westerly direction, and then, from a tortuous construction, 

 six miles west by south. Glenfinnan is ever memorable as the 

 place where Prince Charlie's standard was raised in 1745. The 

 Finnan water is about five miles long, descends from an altitude of 



